The free and open source software (FOSS) community is big and getting bigger. It's diverse and broad, but we have more in common than we do differences that set us apart.

In free software, people care about ethics above all. In open source, people care about technology and there are many shades of gray in between.

Then there are those who just want to get FOSS used more widely. They are in the business of FOSS. As we expand into new markets, should there be a new term for them to convey the message of FOSS more clearly and inclusively?

Topics

About the author

Sal - Salim Badakhchani | Certified I.T. professional, with over 20 years of experience, specialising in the banking and telecommunications industry. Passionate supporter of Community Software developed under Free and Open Source (FOSS) licenses and an early adopter and advocate of those technologies. Strong all rounder with broad industry experience spanning development and operations. Expert in defining process, documenting work flow, identifying best practice and developing tooling for...

17 Comments

A great start to dispel the common myth that doing something for nothing is just a charity. Just because you donate your time and effort without charge when you write the code doesn't mean that you won't be rewarded for your work in the future. That's just my opinion, so I fully support FOSS and shall be contributing as much as possible.

I agree. Voluntary contributions is a huge part of FOSS and something we will always want to encourage. The business of FOSS however is also super important. I think however we can do much to improve the message we send to the business community by simply calling a spade a spade. The spade here is summed up best as Community Software. In my day do day work we refer to our upstream projects as "The Community". In my case that is the JBoss Community.

I don't want to sound like I'm becoming a teacher or a communist, but my ethic is to mutually share all knowledge and wisdom for the greater good of "thing" kind. I don't like to exclude other species, especially cats, as I believe my cat gains some form of wisdom from my input and attempts to converse with her. Allowing your own work should not be something to hide and protect but it should be something to share and propagate for the benefit of others. Rock on FOSS!

I am the co-founder of SolydXK and in my working life a business consultant. I have found that the FOSS/business discussion has changed over the past few years. The majority of the community is aware that it is not all about technology. Continuity, possible business models, business strategy and yes, even financial rewards are, thankfully, subjects that do not need to be avoided anymore.
There is still a strong sence of ethics in the community: what is created by the community should always be for the community. Discussing business oportunities are important for the future of the products and for the future of the community.
What I found is that the community finds these naming conventions important, whether it's FOSS, Open Source, or any other naming they prefer. Businesses are often are confused by this, and I don't blame them. Their interests are with good support, SLAs and services they can use to improve their businesses with.
So, I would not be in favor by yet another name. Perhaps you first ask business owners what they think about the discussion and if it would help them understand better if naming would change. Unfortunately, "Describe what's in it for you (the client)" is not an option in the list.

Thanks for the feedback Arjen, its much appreciated. We did engage with a number business along with various FOSS communities and what we found was a requirement for an alternative message but not a replacement. Basically what people wanted was a choice. If you have issues with term like "Free" and "Open" then is there some other unambiguous, consistently translatable term that was approved by folk in the FOSS community that you can use. To that end I support the term community software but we included the most popular suggestions in this poll to make it as representative as possible.

Indeed, "Free" and "Open" are rather ambiguous terms to describe the products. It is causing confusion wihtin and outside the community. I agree that when you're talking about FOSS, "community" describes the heart and soul of the product. It is also a term that is better known by those outside the cumminity. The term may not be ambiguous, but it still needs to be defined when communicating with people not familiar with the concept.

I think your observation of the relationship between naming and values is astute, and along these lines I would say it would be worthwhile for business community, to whom the software function and capability is of primary concern, to identify the software as "Community Software". Unfortunately Open Source and FOSS carry with them preconceptions that many in the business community have little patience for. As someone that is responsible for introducing innovative technology in a large global investment Bank, I can say to FOSS or Open Source are not criteria that I use to evaluate software. In in a very real way, these terms raise barriers in the adoption of new technologies, due to their preconceptions. I do think co-operative software is probably technically the best term with respect to how software is created. But this too is a highly overloaded word. For these reasons I'm choose to use the term community software when ask by my senior management as to the provenance of a FOSS or Open Source technology.

You could call it FOCS because it sounds like FOX and they are furry and cute. Then you have Free, Open Source, (Community / Co-Operative) and Source. It will make everybody happy including our lovely little foxes :)

# not so long ago I read -excuse the lack of reference, as it was, as I say, so long ago- that the naming should be 'Free Software' as it's definition includes not just the openness but the user's ability to interchange it freely and else...
# anyway, Open Source, integrates a bunch of fine modern tendencies that must be promoted: Open Health, Open Farming, Open Architecture... and counting... that is: "The Open Source Way".
# So, considering that Free Software is just a little piece of the Open Source stream, and to avoid the confusion of th@se who believe that 'Free Software' only means ''Gratis' software, the definite Brand must be Open Source (software)...

Thanks for your comments Gonzola. The people we have spoke, to in places like Sweden for example, tell us that the word open has very negative implications when associated with software. We need to consider the broader implications of terms we use and how they translate in different languages if we are to send a clear and unambiguous message...we are all international now.

# Hi, Sal.
# I Can't think that 'Open' had more 'negative connotations' than 'free'...
# ! ...but whatever for understanding...
# ! somehow, everyone of us will continue naming 'the thing' their own way...
(# anyway... why (open) software is different to (open) Design, Farming, Architecture or else...
# ... to have such 'connotations?)

Hi Gonzalo, it was a surprise to me also to hear that "Open" had negative connotations but that is the way of the world. No term we come up with will be perfect but choosing one that we already widely use that translates consistently seems like a much better option.

Where I work is primarily a Windows-based office but when we are able to, we try and inject Open Source solutions. So while our internal servers are running Microsoft, our external web servers are FreeBSD, Apache, Postgre, PHP and Drupal.
Unfortunately somebody before I came introduced open source to the executives and flubbed it terribly. Just mentioning the words "open source" would make them antsy and fidgety.
Quietly, open source has been introduced without much fanfare and people have been educated on what open source really is, and its benefits.
Just because a couple of us use and prefer open source, doesn't mean co-workers are ready to embrace it, so a slow introduction is in order. Implement one piece and let it demonstrate how well it works and how THEY will benefit it.

Hi Drew, thanks for sharing your story. We heard very similar tales from talking to various vendors. Your absolutely right to mention "how THEY will benefit". Emphasizing value is one of the key reasons for coining a new term. We heard from people who felt like they wanted to talk about all the benefits of FOSS but as soon as those terms were used they started to loose the fight. One of the things we are finding is that using the word community allows you to continue the discussion and hopefully make that sale!

Footer

The opinions expressed on this website are those of each author, not of the author's employer or of Red Hat.

Opensource.com aspires to publish all content under a Creative Commons license but may not be able to do so in all cases. You are responsible for ensuring that you have the necessary permission to reuse any work on this site. Red Hat and the Red Hat logo are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.